So who is the Spoke N’ Board manager? -TJF
My name is Austin Tremblay. I am 20 years old, and from Underhill, VT. I have been working as a bike mechanic at a bike shop in Vermont for the past two years, and tuning my personal and close friends’ skis for the past eight years. I am also a ski instructor at Smuggler’s Notch Resort in Vermont. Mountain biking and alpine skiing have been my biggest hobbies since day one. -AT
What is the Spoke N’ Board? -TJF
Spoke n’ Board is a bike/ski shop in room 107 of the Saunders Sports Complex. We are open for the Fall Semester on Tuesdays Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6-7pm. Working on my equipment is as much of the hobby as actually using them. I took over Spoke n’ Board from Zack Beauregard in the Fall of 2015. Zack graduated, and I was eager to follow in his footsteps. Since then we were able to hire Matt Renschen, a freshman from Pennsylvania. Matt is very qualified for the job, with experience working in a bike shop and tuning skis. He also races downhill mountain bikes, and is an avid skier and ski instructor. -AT
So what kind of repairs do you do?-TJF
Austin working on the many bikes that can come through.
We can tune and repair mountain bikes, road bikes, Nordic skis, alpine skis and snowboards. This service is exclusively for faculty, students, and staff. A basic tune costs between two and five, dollars based on the needs, and replacement parts, at retail cost. Repairs that we often see in the shop include brakes, shifters, derailleurs and flat-tire repairs. And don’t forget, we can replace almost any bike part. In addition to ski tuning we can also trim and fit skins, adjust DIN settings, apply P-Tex (base repair), and adjust bindings. We are also very knowledgeable, so we can answer questions about what gear to purchase, where to purchase it, and how to choose the right sizes for skis, snowboards and bikes.-AT
Is there anything new coming to the shop this semester?-TJF
For many years, customers wishing to replace parts on their bikes and skis needed to buy the parts themselves and bring them to Spoke n’ Board to be worked on. This year we are in the process of partnering with Human Power Planet Earth in Saranac Lake, in order to set up a parts ordering system. This means that we will soon be able to order the parts for our customers, making it easier for everyone. We will also be able to stock popular items such as brake pads, inner tubes and brake/shifter cables.-AT
For more information about Spoke n’ Board, stop by the shop, email me at atremblay@s.paulsmiths.edu, or check out our Facebook page: PSC Spoke n’ Board.
